When winter comes, there is a moment when eye wrinkles or mouth wrinkles suddenly look exceptionally clear. Wrinkles that used to only show slightly when laughing now seem to stay even when your face is at rest, and you might think, "Wait, did my facial wrinkles suddenly increase all at once?"

However, there is one key point you must check here. Did these wrinkles newly form, or did existing facial wrinkles simply "remain without returning" to their original state?

In many cases, the changes in wrinkles you feel in winter are closer to a signal that "wrinkle fixation" has begun, rather than "wrinkle creation." Therefore, winter skincare must be approached as managing the "state" of the wrinkles, going beyond simple hydration.

Table of Contents

• Trend 1. Why wrinkles look like they've "increased" in winter
• Trend 2. The internal mechanism where "wrinkle fixation" begins
• Trend 3. Management strategies to prevent "wrinkle fixation" rather than "wrinkle creation"

Trend 1. Why wrinkles look like they've "increased" in winter

- The "ability to return" is more important than the "moment of formation" -

In fact, facial wrinkles do not suddenly appear overnight. While we laugh, frown, and talk, numerous expression lines are created and flattened out repeatedly around the eyes and mouth. This is the exact point we need to pay attention to.

For proper wrinkle management, instead of worrying about how to get rid of wrinkles, we must focus on the recovery power that allows wrinkles to form and then flatten back out.

When skin condition is good, eye or mouth wrinkles disappear quickly even if they appear briefly, but in winter, this recovery speed slows down noticeably. Therefore, in winter, it feels as if facial wrinkles have suddenly increased, and for some reason, wrinkles seem to stay longer even with the same facial expressions. The overall impression of the face becomes one that looks exceptionally tired.

In other words, the core of winter wrinkle management is not that the number of wrinkles has increased, but that the time wrinkles cannot return to their original state has lengthened.

Trend 2. The internal mechanism where "wrinkle fixation" begins

- Why do facial wrinkles harden easily in winter? -

The reason why wrinkles feel like "permanently remaining lines" instead of appearing and disappearing briefly in winter is due to several simultaneous changes occurring within the skin:

① Decrease in dermal water pressure – Lack of power to push up wrinkles

Moisture in the skin goes beyond simple hydration; it acts as a cushion that pushes the skin back up from beneath the wrinkles. However, in winter, as this water pressure drops, the power to re-flatten the skin under eye and mouth wrinkles becomes insufficient, and wrinkles stay in a folded state for a long time. That is why even if you apply cream, internal dryness continues and facial wrinkles look more prominent.

✔ Winter Skincare Practice Points

• Add a hydration layer in advance before the skin starts to feel tight
• Apply moisture in several thin layers rather than a large amount all at once

② Reduced restoration elasticity – Skin cannot return to its original place

For wrinkles to disappear, the skin needs elastic restoration power to return to its original position. However, in winter, the drop in skin temperature, decrease in blood flow, and slowing of the regeneration rhythm combine to leave the skin in a state where it is "not ready to flatten back out." As a result, eye and mouth wrinkles formed after laughing stay much longer than before, and those areas gradually begin to harden like fixed facial wrinkles.

✔ Facial Wrinkle Management Points

• After washing your face in the evening, perform a 1-minute massage by pressing and smoothing out the wrinkled areas
• Create a comfortable state through skin hydration to prevent falling asleep with wrinkles folded

③ Repeated expressions + Reduced recovery = Wrinkle fixation

The areas around the eyes and mouth are folded thousands of times a day. Normally, this wouldn't be a problem, but during a period like winter when recovery power is low, the story changes. If the skin lacks the capacity to flatten back out despite repeating the same expressions, wrinkles change from temporary lines to fixed lines. Therefore, it is more accurate to view winter not as a season when new wrinkles form, but as a time when the "state" of facial wrinkles is determined.

Trend 3. Management strategies to prevent "wrinkle fixation" rather than "wrinkle creation"

- Winter facial wrinkle management requires a change in direction -

The more you worry about eye and mouth wrinkles in winter, the more you might want to use stronger wrinkle-care products, but the core of winter skincare is different. You should focus on maintaining the wrinkles so they don't harden, rather than trying to get rid of them.

✔ Direction 1. Fill "under" the wrinkle rather than "on top" of the wrinkle
Instead of only applying products to the wrinkle lines, fill the moisture and elasticity of the surrounding skin first to create the power for the skin to flatten back out.

✔ Direction 2. Increase the time the skin stays flattened
Nighttime, in particular, is the golden time to reset wrinkles. You can slow down the speed of wrinkle fixation by following these three rules: sufficient hydration, habits that don't create wrinkles daily, and a sleep environment where the skin does not feel tense.

✔ Direction 3. "Sustainable routine" over intense management
As skin can easily become sensitive in winter, it is important to consistently maintain a routine that helps recovery rather than irritation. The goal of facial wrinkle management is not to make them disappear immediately, but to keep them in a state where they can return to normal.

When eye or mouth wrinkles suddenly look deep in winter, it's not because your face suddenly aged. In most cases, it's not that new wrinkles have formed, but that they have simply begun to stay without returning to their original state.

If you let this period pass, facial wrinkles may remain as they are even when spring comes. However, if you set the right direction and provide winter skincare now, wrinkles can still remain as lines that can be reversed.

Please remember that winter is not the season when wrinkles form,
but the point at which the fate of facial wrinkles is determined!